Fred Vasseur explained that Lewis Hamilton was ‘frustrated, not demotivated’ after his toughest weekend of the season so far at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The legendary British racer was dumped out in Q2 on Saturday and failed to improve from his P12 grid slot in the race on Sunday. After qualifying, Hamilton gave a concerning interview, telling Ferrari to “change driver” if they want improved results and labelling his one-lap performances as “absolutely useless”.
His mood didn’t improve much on Sunday, either, as he gave a series of downbeat interviews after finishing outside of the points. Meanwhile, the Brit’s team-mate, Charles Leclerc, scored his first pole position of the season and drove to a P4 finish, only narrowly missing out on a podium after challenging McLaren for the victory throughout the first half of the race. Needless to say, the mood in the Ferrari camp was glum after the Hungarian GP.
Vasseur was asked about the comments made by his marquee driver after the race in Hungary. “I don’t need to motivate him,” he declared. “Honestly, he’s frustrated, but not demotivated.
“Yeah, he’s demanding. But I think it’s also why he’s seven-times world champion. He’s demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself as well.
“I can perfectly understand the situation. Sometimes you are making comments on what the driver is saying [in] the car, but if you put the microphone on some other sportsmen in football and so on, I’m not sure that it would be much better.
For the latest breaking stories and headlines, sign up to our Daily Express F1 newsletter, or join our WhatsApp community here.
“Sometimes, just after the race or just after qualifying, you are very disappointed, and the first reaction is harsh. I can understand the frustration, but we are all frustrated. Sometimes, if you ask me, if I say [what I want] I will go to the stewards.”
Hamilton’s miserable weekend means that he now trails Leclerc by 42 points in the standings. Worse still, this is the longest run without a podium in the 40-year-old’s glittering career. These results, combined with a podium for George Russell, mean that Mercedes have closed the gap to Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship standings to just 24 points.
The Stevenage-born driver wasn’t the only former champion to struggle on Sunday, though. Max Verstappen’s faint Drivers’ Championship title hopes were extinguished in dramatic fashion as he crossed the line down in ninth, while Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the top two positions.